Shades that Dye the Screen
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: There are many possibilities: many words, many worlds, many contexts in which they exist. A collection of drabbles spread across different fandoms, characters and prompts within the Duel World challenge.
1. Cinderella&Prince I, 12 O'Clock Bell Rin

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : 12 O'Clock Bell Rings  
 **Character/s** : Cinderella, Prince  
 **Duel** : Vs. Knopse (World of Grace  
 **Prompts** : crumbling, soil

 **.**

It was a dream, a fairy tale…until it all crumbled at the end.

The prince who rescued the damsel in distress. The royal ball in which she, _she_ , was asked to dance. The love at first sight – and the pillar she looked towards had been so high and yet not out of her reach.

And the clock struck midnight and it wouldn't matter this time, because they were together and the truth was out. She was in her soiled maid clothes that would never fade and he danced anyway…

Until midnight came and he changed and crunched the dream away.


	2. Little Miss I, Dream Vendor

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Dream Vendor  
 **Character/s** : Little Miss  
 **Duel** : Vs. Winged Kuriboh (Level 1 Tier Opponent)  
 **Prompts** : family, together

 **.**

She had no more family, and none of that huge inheritance they'd left behind would return them.

They'd left everything behind. The servants. The mansion. _Her_. And they'd gone away, after promising when they returned the three of them would spend time together. Happy times: walking on the shore of their private beach, through their mansion's gardens or just sitting together listening to the tales of old.

They'd taken all that away and left her with sad dreams and a wealth still cold to the touch.

She would have sacrificed it all for her parents and those dreams back again.


	3. Toshiko I, Ability Shop

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Ability Shop  
 **Character/s** : Toshiko  
 **Duel** : Vs. Jerry Beans Man (Level 1 Tier Opponent)  
 **Prompts** : small, strong

 **.**

Within a few weeks, he'd sold most of his life away.

Initially, it'd been disbelief. She'd invited him to try, and what did he have to lose? Nothing, he'd thought.

Quite a bit, the answer turned out to be. Each transaction with the owner caused him to lose a little more of his life – and his purchases got bigger and bigger too, with his voracity. What started small wound up larger than he could ultimately pay.

He was lucky that thing called personal insolvency existed, after that superhuman power he'd brought in desperate greed shattered the one most important thing.


	4. Makoto&Shoko I, Colourful

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Colourful  
 **Character/s** : Makoto, Shoko  
 **Duel** : Vs. Reaper of the Nightmare (Level 1 Tier Opponent)  
 **Prompts** : insecurity, trouble

 **.**

He wouldn't have been able to crush her like that if she hadn't been so disillusioned by him. But he had been. He was the only person who could ever hope to understand. He was the one who went through the same sort of things – worse – and yet could go on with his life through it.

She wondered if it was because of his drawings, his art. She wished she had something like that. Some talent to hold on to. But she didn't.

She'd thought she'd had him at least. Even if they barely talked.

It turned out she didn't.


	5. Daisuke&Izumi I, Bitter Virgin

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Bitter Virgin  
 **Character/s** : Daisuke, Izumi, their mother  
 **Duel** : Vs. Vs. Winged Kuriboh (Level 1 Tier Opponent)  
 **Prompts** : family, together

 **.**

Daisuke could tell her mother wasn't pleased with Izumi, but she wouldn't do anything. How could she? Izumi was her daughter. The child she carried inside of her was a grandson or granddaughter. And she might be angry, and disappointed, but she loved her family.

And Izumi loved the child she carried, so how could anyone begrudge that?

Never mind all the rumours that flew around. All the abuse. Izumi was happy and their family and that was all that mattered. Not what everybody said. Not what everybody thought.

Their mother understood that. Was part of that – their family bond.


	6. Miu&Yuuri I, Ageha

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Ageha  
 **Character/s** : Miu, Yuuri  
 **Duel** : Vs. Stray lambs  
 **Prompts** : cute, baby

 **.**

The new haircut looked good on her. Not necessarily cute, but it hid her baby face and made her look all grown up: mature. A little like a boy, Yuri thought, but that might have just been her being vindictive because she was already a model now and that just made her look even better.

It made Yuri feel worse, because she didn't have that. She looked good too, and she worked hard. Harder than Miu, she personally thought. She should be the one admired as a model. The one everyone looked towards.

Instead she wound up in the shadow.


	7. Sui&Ohana I, Hanasaku Iroha

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Hanasaku Iroha  
 **Character/s** : Sui Shijima, Ohana Matsumae  
 **Duel** : Vs. Winged Kuriboh (Level I Tier Opponent)  
 **Prompts** : family, together

 **.**

Somehow, their family came together again.

Shijima Sui didn't think it would ever happen. Not even before her headstrong daughter had run away. And after she'd heard about the baby and her son in law's death and that stubborn girl _still_ hadn't come back… She was even more sure it wouldn't happen.

But then Ohana came: Ohana, the granddaughter she had never met. And Satsuki followed soon after. Followed, and tied their family back together again.

The ties were clumsy at first, but they straightened out, became neater in time and defrosting attitudes and new acceptances and all they had lost.


	8. Koyama I, Birthday

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Birthday  
 **Character/s** : Koyoma  
 **Duel** : Vs. Winged Kuriboh  
 **Prompts** : family, together

 **.**

He kicked his mother out of his hospital room.

He was getting odd looks. From the doctor. From other patients. He didn't care; he just ignored them and went back to lying listlessly on the bed. The frustration ebbed out quite quickly, once she was gone.

And she left quickly. Fled the moment he yelled at her. Like he'd worn away at her nerves.

He'd done that. Though he couldn't find himself to care right then. They weren't close enough. He didn't have anybody close enough.

But later, he was lonely and wondering if he couldn't give her another chance.


	9. Little Miss II, Dream Vendor

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Dream Vendor  
 **Character/s** : Little Miss  
 **Duel** : Vs. King of Skull Servants  
 **Prompts** : death, reaper

 **.**

They weren't supposed to die that early, that suddenly, before she could survive in the world on her own.

Even though she wasn't strictly alone. She had Julie, and Liang, and the other servants. She had the mansion, the estate, and her inheritance, which she would gain full access to when she became of age.

But none of that was going to bring back what she'd lost. No amount of money could snatch their souls from the reaper. No order could give the servants that power.

Her parents were gone, and even surrounded by people and wealth, she was alone.


	10. Makoto I, Colourful

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Colourful  
 **Character/s** : Makoto  
 **Duel** : Vs. Jerry Beans Man  
 **Prompts** : small, strong

 **.**

They were just little dots on a page, but together, they became something profound. Meaningful.

He hadn't realised that at first, even though he knew better than most how intricate and delicate that balance of colours was. He dabbled in them all the time. Reds and blues and yellows and green – and yet even he'd only been seeing a smeared result and not the individual threads that lay beneath.

Once he realised that, he could see the colour in everything. Those small, muted strands that had been too inconspicuous to notice before. That he'd thought was only grey and black.


	11. Hiro&Hikari I, Judge

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Judge  
 **Character/s** : Hiro, Hikari  
 **Duel** : Vs. Reaper of the Nightmare  
 **Prompts** : fears, trouble

 **.**

There was always the possibility that things would go wrong. That something would happen that they didn't predict, or what they did predict hadn't been dealt with well enough. That their lives could be in danger, in this dangerous game they were playing. That they could die before their revenge was fulfilled, or some target or other would escape their justice.

But it was still worth it, because that was the only way. They'd already escaped their justice, and no amount of proof had done anything to smash that.

If this was what they had to do, so be it.


	12. Proprietor I, Ability Shop

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Ability Shop  
 **Character/s** : Proprietor  
 **Duel** : Vs. King of Skull Servants  
 **Prompts** : death, reaper

 **.**

If you could kill, you could bring back to life as well. That wasn't how things worked in the human plane, so people tended not to think of the possibility. Even those whose souls were dying from desperation –they wouldn't think that there existed an ability to turn it all back…

But sometimes there came someone who would ask. Sometimes it truly was impossible, if the person wasn't willing to pay the price for them.

She sold abilities. So she had to get them from somewhere as well. The few willing to sacrifice it all for somebody else's second chance.


	13. Hina I, Listen to Me Girls, I'm Your Fat

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Listen to Me Girls, I'm Your Father  
 **Character/s** : Hina  
 **Duel** : Vs. Stray Lambs (Level 1 Tier Opponent)  
 **Prompts** : cute, baby

 **.**

Hina was four now, but still as much the heart stealer she'd been as a baby.

Neighbours and locals would stop them in the shops or on the footpaths or in the park to pinch her cheeks and pat her hair and tell whoever was accompanying her – Yuuta or Sora or Miu, that they were lucky to have such an adorable child. Sometimes they were strangers and meant "child" in entirely the wrong context, and Sora, especially if she was accompanied by Yuuta, would blush darkly and stutter.

But they couldn't deny that they were extremely lucky to have Hina.


	14. Meiko&Jinta I, AnoHana

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : AnoHana  
 **Character/s** : Meiko, Jinta  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter (World of Grace)  
 **Prompts** : ending a journey, breeze

 **.**

In those final moments, she felt like a daffodil ready to float away in the breeze. Maybe that would mean she was luck – luck for her friends, watching the last wick float away on the thirteenth hour…

But they weren't young and innocent anymore, believing in fairy tales and fairies and that fabled thirteenth hour.

But still the breeze would whisk her away. She felt lighter, less solid, and Jinta was looking in her direction and couldn't see her anymore.

That meant it was the end, the final farewell – the end she knew was coming when she felt herself lighten.


	15. Clain I, Fractale

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Fractale  
 **Character/s** : Clain  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter (World of Grace)  
 **Prompts** : starting a journey, breeze

 **.**

It's a lonely life, but that's the norm. To live in an artificially structured social world, to listen to the prayers from the temple and interact with the doppels like they are humans as well…

Most of the time, he doesn't think of it. His fascination with the old world extends only as far as its technology – but the truth is, that's enough. Because that guides him to change, to the start of this story. He cycles along the path worn only by him and finds a woman, a fresh breeze blowing through his life, nudging him out the door.


	16. Koyama II, Birthday

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Birthday  
 **Character/s** : Koyama  
 **Duel** : Vs. Reaper of the Nightmare  
 **Prompts** : insecurity, trouble

 **.**

He'd never had to face losing a friend before.

He'd been the one trying to leave after all. The one who couldn't find any meaning amongst the little things in life. He'd been the one planning to die – so he'd never thought he'd need to be able to live through somebody else's death.

But that's exactly what he did need to do. And he had to do it, because he'd made a promise to that friend to continue on. He couldn't give it up, no matter how difficult it would be from then on out, without his precious, irreplaceable, friend.


	17. Ritsuka&Soubi I, Loveless

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Loveless  
 **Character/s** : Ritsuka, Soubi  
 **Duel** : vs. Kairyu-shin (World of Grace)  
 **Prompts** : river, rock

 **.**

He's surprised when the man goes along with him, and a little annoyed. But there are more important things, like his brother, like this man who's known his brother…

Those he can't catch on camera; those are pebbles already lost in the river flow. They can talk, but words vanish. The photos won't and, in a roundabout way, he can remember things by having them frozen like that: seen, but never said.

But this is a stranger and he doesn't mind being photographed like that, like they're friends. Ritsuka thinks maybe he's the one more surprised – and it's his idea.


	18. Karin&Kirika I, Kamichama Karin

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Kamichama Karin  
 **Character/s** : Karin, Kirika  
 **Duel** : vs. Elemental Hero Knopse (World of Grace)  
 **Prompts** : growing, soil

 **.**

She'd been kind of hoping that Karin would still be in love once the truth was out. It wasn't impossible, though it was taboo and nothing else from what stood between them had stopped that crush from building up…

But maybe it was only meant to be a fleeting daffodil in a small pot: soil starved too quick, flower wilted too quick – they could've fallen in love beyond the crush and fought for just one more thing since they fought anyway, fought for others…

But Karin's heart was already drifting away, and there was another, a boy, looking at her.


	19. Julie I, Dream Vendor

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Dream Vendor  
 **Character/s** : Julie  
 **Duel** : Vs. Stray Lambs (Level 1 Tier Opponents)  
 **Prompts** : cute, baby

 **.**

Julie loved his mistress dearly. Enough to accept something sitting more lovingly in her lap than his small furry form. Enough to wait for his milk from her, even when it stopped coming. Enough to go to that frightening doll without a fuss, even when it's mouth opened and snapped his back with its jaws.

By the end he wondered if she loved him that much, like she'd used to. Maybe if things went on longer he'd have fled, or hid, or accepted milk from the servants.

Or maybe he loved his mistress too much for that to be possible.


	20. Makoto&Pura Pura I, Colourful

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Colourful  
 **Character/s** : Makoto, Pura Pura  
 **Duel** : Vs. King of Skull Servants (Level 1 Tier Opponent)  
 **Prompts** : death, reaper

 **.**

Why a kid in a suit, he wondered. Dealing with souls was a job for reapers and angels, after all. Unless he wasn't quite right for either of them. Not a sinner enough for the reaper. Too much a sinner for an angel. So they sent someone in between. Someone to see what he'd make of a second chance, back in life.

He'd been trying to die. But apparently he'd hit the fine balance a little too perfectly. So he had to tip the scales somehow.

He didn't see how things would change: without memories, without knowledge for his sin.


	21. MC I, 100 Days Dream

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : 100 Days Dream  
 **Character/s** : MC  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter (World of Grace)  
 **Prompts** : ending a journey, breeze  
 **Warnings** : suicide

 **.**

He wanted wings, wanted to fly. He wanted to feel the wind on his back instead of the leather chair, and he wanted his legs to be free, dangling instead of sitting heavily, doing nothing.

And, most of all, he wanted to be free of that chair that carried him.

Its wheels slid and dragged in turn. He forced them on; at least his arms were strong enough to manage them. He forced them on. He wanted those wings. He wanted to fly. He couldn't have wings but at least he could free-fall from the roof and end the vigil.


	22. Kaito&Mizuka I, RoboticNotes

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Robotic;Notes  
 **Character/s** : Kaito, Mizuka  
 **Duel** : vs. Kairyu-shin  
 **Prompts** : ocean, wind  
 **Warnings** : character death

 **.**

The waves are haunted now. So's the wind howling.

She didn't scream. So the wind only echoes his own desperate pitch now.

The waves though, the way they smash against the rocks, is too reminiscent of the way Mizuka tipped over the rails, the way she'd gone splat on the rocks, the way she'd laid, dying while those damn robotic legs of her tried to get her up again –

He'd tried. He'd grabbed her, been dragged with her, knocked her down.

It hadn't helped. Not one bit.

 _You'll just fall with me._

A bit of him fell with her anyway.


	23. Liang I, Dream Vendor

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Dream Vendor  
 **Character/s** : Liang  
 **Duel** : Vs. Jerry Beans Man  
 **Prompts** : small, strong

 **.**

It sounded like such a small thing. It shouldn't have had such a dramatic impact, but it did. It should have only been a small comfort – but held hoped for just a little more when he'd brought that doll.

If it had been purely small comforts, he should have brought the doll from the nearest toy maker instead. But part of him hoped that the vendor's words would prove true, that the doll would bring the little miss good dreams – and that was a greater assurance than he has with any common doll.

The doll did work. Worked too well.


	24. Sumire I, Sakurada Reset

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Sakurada Reset  
 **Character/s** : Sumire Soma  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter  
 **Prompts** : starting a journey, sun  
 **Warnings** : suicide

 **.**

She knows when she climbs over the bridge that she's giving birth to another person.

In fact, she's counting on it.

She also knows she's subjecting that person to something painful. She knows that person will shed numerous tears because of her, and the decision she's making here.

She's lucky. She only has to cry this once.

That person might cry for the rest of their life. She's condemning them to that, too.

She has to. For the happiness of someone else – who'll also cry.

 _I'm so selfish, aren't I._

And it's easy to be selfish when her heart's screaming.


	25. Clain II, Fractale

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Fractale  
 **Character/s** : Clain  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter  
 **Prompts** : starting a journey, sun

 **.**

It's the end of the road, but it's also their beginning.

They're free now. Free to live their lives the way they wish beneath the sun.

He visits his father again first. This time, he learns it's him, and he's a little annoyed he hadn't been told that before because the old man could have said something, really.

It doesn't matter. Knowing his father in reality is far better.

He searches for his mother after that.

And then more people, until the world is filled with them.

Their world should be filled with people, beneath the sun in the sky.


	26. Rei I, 3-gatsu no lion

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : 3-gatsu no Lion  
 **Character/s** : Rei  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter  
 **Prompts** : ending a journey, sun

 **.**

His apartment's empty, as it should be. He's just moved in and took almost nothing from his previous… residence.

He wants to call it a home. He can't though. To do that would be to admit he's been driven from it, by that feeling of not belonging.

It's easier to reject it. Hurts less.

The harsh sunlight through the open windows hurts less.

He'll get curtains. And a bed or futon. And a little table for his chess set and something to organise his notes.

Living with a family is over and done with, now. And they were never his.


	27. Yuuri I, Yuri on Ice

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Yuri on Ice  
 **Character/s** : Yuuri Katsuki  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter  
 **Prompts** : ending a journey, sun

 **.**

Five years later, he returns to Hasetsu.

This time, it's the end of his journey.

It mightn't be. His inbox is flooded with messages: his sponsors and supporters and the JSF who still want him to keep going (and still think he can)… but also those many louder voices who think he's done causing his phone to buzz until his notifications are all switched off.

Phichit says the ones who have his private contacts are more important.

Probably right. Still doesn't make it hurt less.

It's bright when he steps out of Fukuoka Airport.

It's warm when he arrives home.


	28. Kotarou I, ReWrite

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : ReWrite  
 **Character/s** : Kotarou Tennouji  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter  
 **Prompts** : ending a journey, sun

 **.**

He doesn't remember all the other times usually, but this time he does. He remembers because it's the last time, and this time he hasn't slept half his age away and watched little kids grow into almost adults while he's stagnated.

This time, he'll live how he was meant to. And it'll be the last.

His one and only life. That's how it's always meant to be.

And maybe they'll have a peaceful life, if he succeeds. Maybe they won't have to fight, like they've fought in every other life.

They'll smile under the sky and dance under the trees.


	29. Miu & Yuuri II, Ageha

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Ageha  
 **Character/s** : Miu & Yuuri  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter  
 **Prompts** : ending a journey, sun  
 **Warnings** : eating disorder, past rape/non-con

 **.**

She's had enough.

It's not about her height, or the maybe too ugly and slightly pudgy in parts body, or the too well-defined muscles or that her metabolism is a little too slow and her school load a little too high to manage a balanced diet. It is about all of those things, but it's also… not.

Because she pushed past all of those… and then Miu.

She can't push past Miu.

She heard. She tried to stop them but she was too late. She tried to snatch Miu away but she continued on anyway.

She can only save herself.


	30. Sana I, Myself Yourself

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Myself, Yourself  
 **Character/s** : Sana  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter  
 **Prompts** : ending a journey, sun  
 **Warnings** : suicide attempt

 **.**

The sun was dimmer, in the city. Too much pollution. Too many bad thoughts. Too many people that crowded around him and whispered cruel things and touched him hard enough to hurt and kicked and punched –

And not enough people to hug him warmly or brush his tears away or make him laugh so he never had to cry in the first place.

He wants to go back. But he's already in little pieces and he can't. They're still whole.

Still, he wants this to be over.

 _If I can't go back, then I can…_

He wakes up in the hospital.


	31. Shop Keeper I, Sugar Lump

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Sugar Lump  
 **Character/s** : shop keeper  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter  
 **Prompts** : ending a journey, sun

 **.**

The last bits of sugar dissolve and it's an empty jar that goes back on the shelf.

He has a lot of empty jars on his shelf.

When he has a bit more time, he'll have to rinse them all out. Not saltwater, because he uses the saltwater for different things. Sometimes the sugar clings to the bottle. He shouldn't wash away their memories with saltwater when there's no-one to see them but him.

Normal tap water will do fine.

And then the sun, to dry them all out as they lie on the beach.

And then new sugar lumps.


	32. gen I, Cheating Craft

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Cheating Craft  
 **Character/s** : gen  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter  
 **Prompts** : ending a journey, sun

 **.**

It's the final exam. The end of the road. If they pass, they're set for life. If they fail… well, they're set for life too, but in a different way.

They all want to pass. Failing here means failing at the rest of their life.

It's almost unfair, the way their lives hinge on their success but they've chosen this. They came to this island because they don't have other ways to reach the top. No money. No prestige.

Scraping the bottom is the risk they've always had.

The sun's above them. The ocean below.

Right now… they're so close.


	33. Makoto&Shoko II, Colourful

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Colourful  
 **Character/s** : Makoto, Shoko  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter  
 **Prompts** : ending a journey, sun

 **.**

It was a pretty crush that turned into something ugly and now it's time to let go.

It's no longer ugly. No longer pretty. It just is. A person she thought she'd understood but she hadn't. A person she thought had understood her but he hadn't.

He said she'd understood too well, in the end. She hadn't. That was Saotome. She just dredged up things that clawed away at him, like they clawed at her.

She didn't want to destroy him. He didn't want her to destroy him, either.

He'd tried to defend himself. He apologised.

Now… she'd let go.


	34. Yuuta I, OcculticNine

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Occultic;Nine  
 **Character/s** : Yuuta Gamon  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter  
 **Prompts** : ending a journey, sun

 **.**

You're fast asleep now. You've been asleep for a long time. I wonder if you're dreaming while you sleep.

You're so cold now. So pale too, probably. I can't imagine cryosleep has preserved your skin tone and you were NEET before that, anyway, weren't you? You probably barely saw the sun before your long slumber.

You'll be seeing a lot of the sun when you wake up, though.

And you'll wake up soon. Are you ready?

The ice is going to melt off your body. I wonder when you'll start to feel it.

I wonder when your dreams will end.


	35. Hiro&Hikari II, Judge

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Judge  
 **Character/s** : Hiro, Hikari  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter  
 **Prompts** : starting a journey, sun  
 **Warnings** : character death, murder plot

 **.**

Everything's tinted dark until they decide they turn their grief towards revenge. Everything's tinted dark until they find a new direction to their meandering lives. Everything's tinted dark after they aren't tinted red anymore, but now it's tinted with a different kind of red.

First it was blood, then it was anger.

And they're going to spray-paint that anger with more blood.

Those people would pay, with their blood. And it was a shame they couldn't pour all that blood back in –

But human bodies weren't sacks that could be refilled and fixed so they'd be in perfect working order.


	36. Proprietor&Toshiya I, Ability Shop

**A/N:** Written for the Duel World Challenge at the Anime and Manga Fanfiction Challenges forum. All drabbles are exactly 100 words.

 **.**

 **Fandom** : Ability Shop  
 **Character/s** : Proprietor, Toshiya  
 **Duel** : vs. Sonic Shooter  
 **Prompts** : ending a journey, sun

 **.**

A lot of people come to him. Usually, they're hoping to gain something.

Sometimes, they're hoping to lose something instead.

And there rare ones keep on cycling between the two, never getting anywhere at all.

Toshiya is one of those people. He can't seem to stop himself. Wanting more, then realising he's gotten too much and trying frantically to undo it all.

It doesn't work. The feelings that drove him to arrive at his doorstep the first time drive him there again, until he's begging for more, then to erase it all again.

And they continue.

And continue.

And continue.


End file.
